People simply will not think about the meaning of sayings that some idiot started to distort out of sheer ignorance or laziness into phrases that simply don't make sense, and then the great majority follow said idiot's example,

If you hear a phrase rather than see it written down, it's easy to mis-hear what the phrase is. However I've seen 'change of tact' a lot in articles written by journalists, and I wonder how a professional couldn't look at that twice and realise there isn't an internal logic to it.

In Reply To

I lived for several years in different English-speaking societies (England, Canada, the U.S.), and as a translator, I'm required to be very careful with words.

I can see how that learned behaviour of exact language would make it very frustrating to be around people who are less exacting about the words they use! However some misuse can be hilarious - especially if it's unintentional. Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..." Dwarves: "Pretty rings..." Men: "Pretty rings..." Sauron: "Mine's better."

"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauronís master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded b*****d with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.